An unexpected Turn of Events
by kmmi95
Summary: When a pick up for Jack and Gwen goes wrong, Jack wonders whether he can carry on, but sometimes unexpected things happen in life
1. Chapter 1

"Tosh?" Said Gwen her fingers pressing into her ear to activate her com.  
"ETA 2 minutes, site is in a warehouse 5 miles north east of you. Energy signals are something that we haven't encountered before, I can't pin point it anymore than that Gwen, sorry." Came the voice into both Jack and Gwen's ears that were sat side by side in the front of the SUV.  
"It's okay Tosh, we will sort it and then Owen can identify it when we get back okay?"  
"Gwen? Be careful."  
"Will do Tosh." Gwen moved her arm back down by her side. She took a deep breathe and chanced a look at Jack he looked focused and yet mildly excited. He sped round a corner, and she wondered whether he was excited because it was something unknown to him, being alive for all these years mustn't have left much mystery in his life there must not be many things that he sees new. As they pull into compound that houses the warehouse he brings the car to a stop and turns to face Gwen.  
"We have no idea what this is, we have no idea what it does, whether it is hostile, so you will stay behind me till I say otherwise okay? Just until we suss it out. I can't have you dying on me Miss Cooper." She nodded her agreement and stepped out of the car. She pulled her gun out of her pocket and coked it holding it in front of her. She waited for Jack and followed him as they approached the warehouse buildings just as she agreed to. She knew it had nothing to do with him wanting to be the one who could take all the glory but it was just because he wanted to keep her safe which she smiled to herself about.

It was in the second building that they came across the creature. They advanced slowly, not wanting it to be aware of their presence until they were closer. Without warning the creature span, it was about the same size as Gwen and was humanoid in shape, it was even human skin coloured what made it stand out was the spikes it had protruding from its back. They were Orange in colour and worrying Gwen slightly.  
"Captain Jack Harkness, words of you and your team of children have reached far across the galaxy. The team you created and yet they are nowhere near ready for the hell we can bring." The creature had a sinister voice and a slight hissing quality to it as the words made its way between the gaps in it fangs.  
"Some run scared, scared of you and the Doctor but not me, I want to show them, that I did not deserve to be exiled, that you are not all you appear to be and that earth is not as well protected as you all keep claiming it is." The creature ended on a shout. It eyes flaring red as its voice raised in pitch.

"The man who can not die can not be harmed they all say, well I say they are wrong. The man who can not die can be harmed in worse ways than his death. They just have no imagination, you do not need to end a mans life to kill him, you could simply break him instead."  
"And how exactly does little old you plan to do that? And what's you name? You appear quite chatty and you know mine so it is only fair to know yours in return." Said Jack.  
"The name is Clarissa and little old me has a plan but I am not going to say, more show you." Jack opened his mouth to come back with a retort but as his mouth formed words Clarissa shot her hand forward, too fast for Jack and Gwen to really notice what was happening as it appeared just as a blur.  
"And how do you break a man Clarissa?" Said Jack, his mouth finally forming the words.  
"By killing the thing he loves." With that a blurred projectile came out from her wrist. Jack fired, not wanting to check whether the projectile had hit what must have been the intended target. The 3 bullets he fired hit Clarissa square in the chest and she went reeling backwards a smile on her face whilst her blood pooled around her.

Jack turned and was met with a sight he wishes he had never had to see. Lying on the floor at his feet was Gwen, blood pouring from the wound in her stomach where the 7 inch orange spike was protruding from. She had been knocked unconscious by the force of her head hitting the floor.

Jack scooped her up as carefully as he could and ran back to the SUV, Placing her on the back seat and jumping into the driver's side. Whilst speeding down the road heading back towards the hub he com'ed Owen and told him to be ready because Gwen had been injured. He got back in record time, as he had broken the speed limit and floored it all the way back. He pulled into the garage and again carried her into the hub and into Owen, Muttering all the while that she would be okay, he would look after her and Owen would fix her up and she would be back out in the field in no time.

On seeing Jack carrying her in Owen was shocked; her shirt was soaked in her blood as was Jacks. Just seeing her in his arms Owen knew this was not going to end the way that Jack wanted it too. Jack lay her down on the Metal table in the middle of the med bay and simply said 'Save her.' Before sitting on the stairs watching Owens every move with analytical detail. He packed the wound to try and stem the blood flow after he connected her to the medi scanner which projected her current stats on the screen, as Owen worked her heartbeat was getting slower and slower, He took a swab from the spike its self and put it in to analyse what it was before setting about pulling it out. He pulled the spike and with lightening fast reactions put he suction hose in to soak up some of the blood, he set about stitching her up. As he started there was another bleed that sprang from her, then another then another. Owen was panicked; he knew that she could not afford to lose anymore blood. She had lost too much already. As he tried to stop the bleeding Gwen flat lined, after trying to bring her back with the shocks he stood back.

"Time of death 5:15 pm"


	2. Chapter 2

"No!" screamed Jack, his seeming peaceful demeanour broken, he went running down the stairs pushing Owen out the way whilst doing so.  
"She's not dead. The medi scanner must be broken, its been here a while, that what it is, Owen please keep working?" Owen had moved over to his computer screen after being forced out of the way by Jack, the computer had finished running the diagnostic on the spike.  
"Jack the spike was coated in clopidogrel, her blood wouldn't clot, she would have just kept bleeding out, there was nothing I could do." Jack span to face Owen,  
"Then what is the point of you? A doctor who can't save people, get out Owen. "Owen left without arguing, knowing Jack had only said it because he was hurt. As Owen walked up the stairs Tosh ran at him, he opened his arms and she hit him full force, sobbing into his chest. He picked her up and carried her over to the old sofa that was under the torchwood sign and sunk down onto it, letting out his own tears into Tosh's shoulder.

Jack had pulled Gwen onto his knee and was breaking. He had inducted her into this team, showed her things that had shook her faith to the core and put her on the front line of danger only to result in her dying because of a mission he had asked her to go on with him. He could have took Owen but no he took Gwen and because of that she was dead. She couldn't have a normal life now or any life, oh god he would have to tell Rhys he realised and this brought on a wave of fresh tears. He had no idea how long it took him to stop crying, but when he finally let go of Gwen and put her in the morgue the hub was empty. He walked up to his office and found the bottle of whisky that Gwen had bought him for Christmas, he had saved it and told himself that he would drink it with her one night when they needed a pick me up but now he sat drinking shot after shot alone and he realised he would never get to see the gap between her teeth, listen to her laugh, tease Owen, all these things that he would miss lead him to drink more and more until finally he passed out due to the amount of alcohol in his system and his tiredness.

Owen pulled into the car park the next day and was amazed to find the hub quiet, at this time normally everyone would be in and at work, he moved across the hub and made his way into his medical bay. The stark white walls hurting his eyes slightly until they adjusted. He looked at the table and figured Jack must have put Gwen's body away, the cog door opened just as Owen reminded himself to go down there and check Jack had done it right as he was in some state by the time Owen had ushered the rest out to leave Jack to mourn. They all knew he loved her, it was clear to them all apart from Jack and Gwen themselves. Tosh walked through her eyes red rimmed and her hair just thrown in a bobble, she said a quiet Hello to Owen before sitting down at her desk and sinking herself into the servers. Ianto came down offered them coffee and then retreated back upstairs his eyes staring at Gwen's desk for the full time he was there.

It was around midday when Jack came downstairs, he looked in worse state than them all and apologized to Owen for his comments made the day before, Owen made it clear that it was okay that he would ring Rhys to tell him about Gwen. Jack thanked him and went back upstairs the normal spring in his step and playful glint in his eyes gone. Owen reached for the phone and rang up Rhys.  
"Rhys Williams, it's Owen Harper I worked with your girlfriend Gwen."  
"Aye, Its not you ringing me to admit finally that she's shagging that boss of hers are you?"  
"No sir, we were running a routine operation yesterday when the person we were chasing let off a round of shots, one hit Gwen and we did everything we could but unfortunately she died late last night."  
"Oh right, thanks for letting me know Owen." And the next thing Owen heard was the Dial tone. Rhys hadn't even had a flicker of emotion in his voice, Owen let out a breath.

He spent the next hour cleaning the med bay, putting the equipment away where it was meant to go, scrubbing Gwen's blood off the floor before heading towards the morgue. He didn't' want to do this, he didn't want to see her face still and pale non moving. As he made his way into the room he heard someone following him, he figured it would be Jack and so wasn't too bothered by it. After locating which draw Jack had put Gwen in the night before Owen walked over to it and pulled open the draw.  
"Jack!" He shouted behind him as his leader walked in.  
"What?" Asked Jack.  
"What did you do to her?" Asked Owen calmly.  
"I prepped her and put her away Owen why?  
"Then why the fuck is her gown there, her bag there, but her body isn't?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Tosh, run a scan on the hub looking for Gwen. " Shouted Owen into his Com, whilst his feet hit the concrete floor of the lower levels of the hub.  
"But Owen she's….." Started Tosh but was quickly cut off by Jack voice down the com.  
"Yeah she is, was, but yeah body isnt't there so we need to find her." Said Jack. He couldn't hide the hope out of his own voice, there was a small possibility she was alive and that he would see her again. He would tell her if she was alive, he would tell her he loved her, losing her made him value how much he actually did love her he had always known it but watching her die had proved it in a way that could not be argued with.  
"Right well we have a physical match in storage room 221" said Tosh's voice slightly worried as exactly what the boys where chasing.  
"Well I am closest so I'll sort it." Jacks voice sounded in Owens' ear. Owen had known all along that it would Jack that demanded to go and find her. Owen just hoped that what ever Jack found wasn't going to break him more.

Jack was running through the corridors, his heart was pounding against his chest, he was so excited and yet terrified at what he was going to find, logically there was no explanation at all for why she was no longer in her draw. There was nothing that made any sense within his head. She had died so she couldn't have come back and walked herself out, nothing had moved her because they would have been alerted to a security breech in the hub so why had she moved? As he skidded into the room he decided a slow quiet approach would be the best as he did have no idea at all what he was walking into.

The room was not cold, nor smelt any different from the rest of the hub, he made his way through the stacks and as starting to get more and more worried the further through the room he got without finding her. As he turned his last corner he saw a person huddled in the corner.  
"Gwen?" He asked quietly, questioning tone in his voice. Her head came up and she was sat without a scratch on her, eyes were red rimmed but nothing else had changed.  
"Jack? Is that you?" She asked him, a fear in her voice that he had only heard when they were chasing the cannibals in the moors.  
"Yeah, you okay?" He said walking towards her and bending down to sit next to her.  
"I don't know Jack. I remember being in the warehouse with you, getting that spike in me then it all goes dark, I heard yours and Owens's voice but then there was silence, it was cold and something was chasing me but then I woke up in a draw, I kicked and kicked and got out, took the gown off and ran. I ran in here and then hid. I don't know what happening to me." When she finished there was more tears running down her face. He pulled her into his arms and sat with her whilst she she cried.  
"Gwen how did you know something was chasing you?"  
"I could hear it, it's footsteps and it's breathing, I just kept running and running think I need to get back to you and all of sudden I woke up and it was gone. Why?"  
"just wondering, Gwen do you think you can come up the med bay so Owen can check you over whilst I go and make a phone call?" She nodded, she stood up and simply waited for him, he linked his hand through hers and made his way upstairs.

Once upstairs there was tears from Tosh and Ianto, Jack told them not inform Gwen that she had died though, she didn't know that she had yet and so thought it unnecessary to tell her just yet. He left her in the capable hands of Owen and went upstairs. It didn't take him long to locate the phone he was searching for. He pressed speed dial one and put it up next to his ear.  
"Doctor?... yeah long time no see… I need your help with something… see you soon then." He put the phone down on the desk and took a deep breath he just hoped the doctor could help him.


End file.
